22nd Nov 2005 07:03
Stem Cell Sciences plc22 November 2005 For immediate release STEM CELL SCIENCES NAMED "BUSINESS LEADER" IN THE 2005 "SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN 50" FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE STEM CELL FIELD Edinburgh, UK, Kobe, Japan, Melbourne, Australia and Scientific American in NewYork, USA, November 22, 2005 - Stem Cell Sciences (London AIM: STEM), the globalstem cell company, has been named by Scientific American magazine as a BusinessLeader in the 2005 Scientific American 50 - the magazine's prestigious annuallist recognizing outstanding acts of leadership in science and technology fromthe past year. Stem Cell Sciences (SCS) plc leads a global alliance of SCS companies andcollaborating academic stem cell scientists from around the world andsuccessfully completed an Initial Public Offering on the London AlternateInvestment Market (AIM) in July 2005. SCS is focused on ensuring that stem celltechnology delivers early stage benefit to society through applications in drugdiscovery and in the longer term, through the development of cell-basedtherapies in areas of unmet medical need such as central nervous system (CNS)degenerative diseases. Through the application of a broad, proprietary portfolio of patents andtechnologies SCS has been able to generate a continuous supply of highlypurified stem cells, thereby clearing a major hurdle that has previouslyprevented the full integration of such cells into commercial drug discovery. Theportfolio includes a novel neural stem cell, the first human tissue stem cellable to grow pure stem cell populations in fully defined growth media, and humanmultipotent adipose-derived stem cells (hMADS). hMADS will be the first celltype to be evaluated by SCS for therapeutic use in muscular degenerativediseases through an international collaboration led by SCS plc's Japaneseaffiliate, SCS KK. Peter Mountford, CEO of Stem Cell Sciences said: "We are honored to berecognized for our work in the area of stem cell research and to be named as aBusiness Leader of the Scientific American 50. This highlights the progress wehave made in becoming a leader in our field through our international andcollaborative approach to business and science." A core feature of SCS' business strategy is on-going access to cutting edgeresearch through long-term partnerships with academia. All current SCSoperations are located within or adjacent to the leading academic centres ofexcellence with which they collaborate, including the Institute for Stem CellResearch (Edinburgh University), RIKEN Centre for Developmental Biology (Kobe)and the Australia Stem Cell Centre (Melbourne). As part of this strategy, SCS isplanning to establish a US operation in California at the beginning of 2006.This will enable increased licensing of its discovery platform technologies tothe biopharmaceutical industry and provide access to cutting edge preclinical,academic research specifically targeted at future cell-based therapies forneurological disease. In 2005 SCS actively contributed to government planning and policy developmentworldwide. In the UK, SCS is the sole biotech member of the UK government's StemCell Initiative panel that is responsible for delivering the 10 year strategyand budget for the UK stem cell program. The Company also contributed to theFederal Government review of therapeutic cloning legislation in Australia andindirectly through contributions at meetings such as the Milken Institute 2005State of the State conference in the US. "The Scientific American 50 is our annual opportunity to salute the people andorganizations worldwide whose research, policy or business leadership has playeda major role in bringing about the science and technology innovations that areimproving the way we live and offer the greatest hope for the future." saidEditor-In-Chief of Scientific American, John Rennie. Selected by the magazine's Board of Editors with the help of distinguishedoutside advisors, the Scientific American 50 spotlights a Research Leader of theYear, a Business Leader of the Year and a Policy Leader of the Year. The listalso recognizes research, business and policy leaders who have played a criticalrole in advancing key technology trends of the past year, such as the rise ofStem Cells, Flexible Electronics, Silicon Lasers, Flu Preparedness and more. - Ends- About Stem Cell Sciences Stem Cell Sciences (SCS) is a global biotechnology company established inMelbourne Australia in 1994 to undertake development and commercialization ofstem cell technologies. SCS is headquartered in Edinburgh, UK with a whollyowned R&D subsidiary in Melbourne, Australia and an affiliated company, SCS KK,based in Kobe Japan. SCS is expanding operations in 2006 to Cambridge, UK andthe US. The new UK site in Cambridge will focus on automation of cell-based drugdiscovery assays for the pharmaceutical industry. The US expansion willinitially be based on licensing opportunities of key SCS technologies, includingStem Cell Selection and novel Neural Stem Cell technology. SCS plc is listed onthe London Stock Exchange Alternative Investment Market (AIM) under the codeSTEM. About Scientific American 50 Past Scientific American 50 winners have spotlighted visionaries from an arrayof fields. Prior honorees have included stem cell researcher Douglas A. Melton,Professor of the National Sciences at Harvard (2004 Policy Leader of the Year); Nobel prize-winningneurobiologist Roderick MacKinnon, Professor of Molecular Neurobiology andBiophysics of Rockefeller University (2003 Research Leader of the Year);aviation leader Burt Rutan, President, Scaled Composites (2003 Aerospace/Business Leader): global public health leader Gro Harlem Brundtland, formerWorld Health Organization Secretary General (2003 Policy Leader of the Year);corporate chief Jeffrey Immelt, Chairman and CEO, General Electric Company (2002General Technology/Business Leader); and high tech innovator Steven Jobs, CEO,Apple (2002 Communications/Business Leader). Founded in 1845, editorial contributors to Scientific American have includedover 100 Nobel laureates, among them Albert Einstein, Neils Bohr, Francis Crick,Stanley Prusiner and Harold Varmus.Scientific American, Inc. is a division ofHoltzbrinck Publishers, a U.S. subsidiary of Verlagsgruppe Georg von HoltzbrinckGmbH, a privately held international media corporation operating in more than 40countries. In addition to Scientific American, Holtzbrinck Publishers includesthe book publishing houses Farrar, Straus & Giroux; W.H. Freeman; Henry Holt andCompany; St. Martin's Press and Tor; the academic scholarly publishing companyPalgrave U.S.; the College Publishing Group of Bedford Freeman Worth; and thedistribution company VHPS. Scientific American 50 appears in the magazine's December issue, arriving onnews stands November 22. The complete list may also be accessed on themagazine's website at www.sciam.com. CONTACTS: European PR Contact Stem Cell Sciences: Yvonne AlexanderWeber Shandwick Square Mile+44 (0) 20 7076 0700; [email protected] US PR Contact Stem Cell Sciences: Miriam MasonWeber Shandwick Worldwide+1 415 248 3433; [email protected] Stem Cell Sciences Contacts: Peter Mountford or Hugh IlyineStem Cell Sciences plc+1 415 425 6540; [email protected], President and CEO+44 (0) 131 662 9829: [email protected], Vice President and COO Scientific American Contact: Elizabeth AmesBOLDE Communications & Public Relations, Inc+1 212 727 1680; [email protected] This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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